Seasonal butchers out to fleece public

KARACHI:

Seasonal butchers remain a bane for people slaughtering sacrificial animals.

People with basic knowledge of how to dress a goat grab the tools and a palm leaf basket, and set out in search of clients posing themselves as professional butchers.

However, they are known to damage the sacrificial animals hide, make a mess of the meat with irregular cuts. The professional butchers either stay home to slaughter their own sacrificial animals or go to high-end clients on booking.

Professional butchers demand a minimum wage of Rs20,000 for a cow and it could go up if the animal is heavier.

Recently, a trend has emerged to fix the rate as per weight of the bull. As per a market survey by Daily Express professional butchers demand Rs5,000 to Rs6,000 per maund (40kgs) is being demanded to slaughter animals this year. The price to slaughter a small cow weighing between three and four maunds is Rs20,000. For large animals, rates range from R 40,000 to Rs50,000. The second and third days' pay is 20-30% less than the first day of Eid. The majority of professional butchers have ceased taking appointments, so now people are hiring unprofessional butchers.

Quack butchers are also charging between Rs10,000 and Rs15,000 for slaughtering small cows on the first day and Rs20,000 to Rs25,000 for large animals. Giving the pros a run for their money, the seasonal butchers cut up a goat for Rs2,500 to Rs3,000 and much less on day two and three.

The first day's pay for camel slaughter is being asked at between Rs30,000 and 40,000, which remains a highly technical job and requires years of experience.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2023.